Surgical blade package

ABSTRACT

A surgical blade package having improved puncture resistance and a simplified three-ply wall structure comprises two superimposed walls, each of which is formed of an outer layer of foil material and an inner layer of a protective padding secured thereon by an intermediate adhesive stratum. The three-ply walls are sealed together adjacent or along their edges to define therewithin a compartment containing a surgical blade.

United States Patent [451 June 13, 1972 UNITED STATES PATENTS Svircher ..206/63.2 R Cormack ..206/63.2 R

e& e ,IIIIIIIIIII'IIIIIIIIIIA 11411111111111. VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIl4'IIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'IIIII' sepia-r3- mn'newnxsam- '1 "IIIIIIIA 1,733,971 10/1929 Kremer ..206/46 BL UX 2,474,619 6/1949 Farrell et al. ..229/87 M UX Primary Examiner-Leonard Summer Attomey-Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond ABSTRACT A surgical blade package having improved puncture resistance and a simplified three-ply wall structure comprises two superimposed walls, each of which is formed of an outer layer of foil material and an inner layer of a protective padding secured thereon by an intermediate adhesive stratum. The three-ply walls are sealed together adjacent or along their edges to define therewithin a compartment containing a surgical blade.

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EZEKI EL J. JACOB SURGICAL BLADE PACKAGE The present invention relates to a surgical blade package having improved puncture resistance and a simplified structure.

Heretofore, a variety of surgical blade packages have been proposed. The packages of US. Pats. Nos. 2,751,074 and 2,866,542 comprise two superimposed two-ply walls each of which is formed of an outer layer of foil material having an adhesive stratum on the inner face thereof. The two ply walls are sealed together adjacent their edges so as to define therewithin a compartment containing a surgical blade. Since the surgical blade is extremely sharp along its cutting edge and terminates in a pronounced point, such packages become punctured by the point of the blade when the package is inadvertently flexed or bent thereat in shipping or handling in spite of the relatively strong foil wall structure. Such a puncture exposes the sterilized blade to contamination and thereby destroys the sterility of the blade. Moreover, the protruding point of the surgical blade subjects the user of the package to potential or actual injury by cutting the hands thereon.

The two-ply wall structure of the surgical blade package of U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,210 lacks sufficient strength to be puncture resistant because of the relatively weak cellulose fiber content thereof.

In US. Pat. No. 2,998,880, a surgical blade package is disclosed which generally consists of a two-ply outer foil envelope containing therewithin a three-ply inner envelope which houses the surgical blade. Such a package purportedly provides improved puncture resistance but it is complicated and costly to produce and use because of the dual envelope structure.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a surgical blade package which has a simplified structure so that it can be economically and easily produced and yet has improved puncture resistance.

In general, the surgical blade package of the invention having a simplified structure and improved puncture resistance comprises two superimposed walls, each of which are a threeply structure. The outer ply or layer is made of a relatively strong foil material, such as aluminum foil or the like. An inner ply or layer made up of a protective padding is secured to the outer foil ply by an intermediate adhesive stratum. The three-ply walls are sealed together adjacent or along their edges so as to define therewithin a hollow compartment for housing a surgical blade such as those used in scalpels.

The surgical blade package of the invention is more particularly exemplified by the embodiment thereof set forth in the accompanying drawing wherein,

FlG. 1 is a plan view of the package, and

FIG. 2 is an exaggerated cross-sectional view of the package taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

The package is formed of two superimposed walls 1 and 2. Wall 2 is preferably slightly longer than wall 1 for ease in gripping and peeling the walls of the package about half-way apart lengthwise to the position indicated in phantom in FIG. 2 to expose thereby the shank or heel of the blade so that it can be attached to a scalpel handle without the hands touching the sterilized blade. The two walls 1 and 2 are sealed together, for example, by heat sealing, adjacent or along their edges such as by a heat seal continuous line 3 or heat seal peripheral area 13. The sealed walls define therewithin a hollow compartment 4 for housing or containing a surgical blade 5 which is generally made of carbon steel.

Walls 1 and 2 of the package are each composed of a threeply structure. The outer layer or ply 6 of wall 1 and the outer layer or ply 7 of wall 2 are each made of a foil material. The inner layer or ply 8 of wall 1 and the inner layer or ply 9 of wall 2 is made of a protective padding which covers or is coextensive with the entire inner surface or face of outer plies 6 and 7. The inner protective padding layer 8 is secured or amxed to the outer foil ply 6 and the inner protective padding layer 9 is secured or affixed to the outer foil ply 7 by intermediate coextensive adhesive layers or strata 10 and 11, respectively.

The outer layers or plies 6 and 7 are formed of a flexible foil material, such as aluminum foil and the like.

The inner protective padding plies or layers 8 and 9 can be formed of aggregated flock, i.e., very short fibrous particles of wool, cotton, cellulose, rayon, nylon, and the like or blends thereof. Alternatively, the inner protective padding plies 8 and 9 can be formed of an organic foam, such as polyurethane foam, polyvinyl chloride foam, polyethylene foam, and like foams. As a further alternative, the inner protective padding plies 8 and 9 can be formed of a non-woven sheet fabric, such as non-woven cellulose fiber fabric. The padding plies are resilient and thicker than the other two plies of the walls.

The intermediate adhesive plies or strata l0 and 11 are formed of an adhesive which is capable of adhering to the padding plies 8 and 9 and also to the respective outer foil plies 6 and 7. Such suitable adhesives include polyvinyl chloride or copolymers of vinyl monomers, such as the carboxy-modified copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate sold under the trade name Vinylite VMCl-I. Thennoplastic polyurethanes, such as Estane 5702 or a blend of Estane 5701 plus Estane 5702, can also be used as an intermediate adhesive stratum. Further suitable adhesives include the polyester resins, such as Vitel PE 201.

The three-ply wall members 1 and 2 are made by applying or coating the adhesive layers 10 and 11 onto the inner faces of the foil layers 6 and 7. In applying the above exemplified adhesives, they are first dissolved in a suitable solvent system, such as methyl ethyl ketone or blends of methyl ethyl ketone and tetrahydrofuran. It is desirable to include a stabilizer, such as dibutyl tin dilaurate, in the adhesive system. The adhesive layers 10 and 11 are applied to the foil layers 6 and 7 by conventional coating technology, such as by the use of a coating knife, reverse roller coater, silk screen, sprayer, and the like. The protective padding plies 8 and 9 are thenapplied to the adhesive plies 10 and 11. The padding layers 8 and 9 can be applied to the adhesive layers 10 and l] by pressing the protective plies 8 and 9 thereagainst, either while the adhesive is still wet or rendered tacky by heating the dried adhesive. When the protective padding ply is composed of flock, rather than foam sheets or non-woven fabric, the flock is dusted onto the wet adhesive layer and any excess unattached flock is thereafter brushed off after the adhesive has dried.

The surgical blade package is formed. by placing the surgical blade 5 along the center of either wall 1 or wall 2 and thereafter placing or superimposing the other wall thereon or folding the other wall thereover in the case where walls 1 and 2 are a continuous member rather than separate members. The two walls are then sealed together adjacent their edges, such as along seal line 3, or along their edges, such as in peripheral area 13, by use of a suitable heat sealing die. The heat and pressure of the die will cause the intermediate adhesive layers 10 and 11 to ooze or seep through the respective inner protective ply layers 8 and 9 at the lines or areas of heatsealing so as to form a continuous seal line or area after cooling and thereby unite or bond the wall members 1 and 2 together. The padding itself can contribute to heat sealing where the material thereof is thennoadhesive. After the package is formed, it and the surgical. blade therein can be subjected to conventional sterilization techniques, such as radiation, heat and chemical means.

The package of the invention is used by a surgeon or by an assisting nurse or medical technician by peeling apart walls 1 and 2 starting at the upper end of the package and terminating the peeling part way down the package to expose thereby the protruding upper end or heel of the surgical blade 5 as shown in phantom in FIG. 2. The bottom end of the package can be held between the fingers while attaching the scalpel handle to the surgical blade by means of the slot 12 in the surgical blade. Thereby, the surgical blade remains in a sterile condition, since it is not touched by the fingers. The blade now attached to the scalpel handle can thereafter be removed from the package by pulling it out of the lower section of its compartment in the package.

The surgical blade package has a simplified structure and is economically and easily produced in view of the fact that the walls thereof are composed of only three plies which can be readily laminated together by rapid and inexpensive equipment. Moreover, the package has substantially improved puncture resistance because should the package be flexed or bent inadvertently along the cutting edge of the surgical blade or adjacent the point thereof, the edge or point of the blade usually only protrudes into and is cushioned by the thicker resilient inner protective padding ply. Accordingly, the package protects the blade against damage and contamination and at the same time protects the user against injury by accidental cutting of the hands. The surgical blade package is easy to open by virtue of the compacting of the soft and resilient padding layers during the heat-sealing operation.

It will be appreciated that various modifications and changes may be made in the package of the invention by those skilled in the packaging art in addition to those discussed above without departing from the essence of the invention and therefore the invention is to be limited only within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A surgical blade package having improved puncture resistance and a simplified three-ply wall structure comprising two superimposed walls, each formed of an outer layer of foil material and a thicker inner layer of a resilient protective padding secured thereon by an intermediate adhesive stratum, said three-ply walls being sealed together adjacent or along their edges to define therewithin a compartment containing a surgical blade.

2. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the outer layer of foil material is flexible aluminum foil.

3. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the intermediate adhesive stratum is a vinyl adhesive.

4. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the intermediate adhesive stratum is a thermoplastic polyurethane.

5. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the intermediate adhesive stratum is a polyester resin.

6. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the inner layer of resilient protective padding is flock.

7. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the inner layer of resilient protective padding is an organic foam.

8. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the inner layer of resilient protective padding is a non-woven fabric. 

2. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the outer layer of foil material is flexible aluminum foil.
 3. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the intermediate adhesive stratum is a vinyl adhesive.
 4. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the intermediate adhesive stratum is a thermoplastic polyurethane.
 5. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the intermediate adhesive stratum is a polyester resin.
 6. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the inner layer of resilient protective padding is flock.
 7. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the inner layer of resilient protective padding is an organic foam.
 8. The surgical blade package defined by claim 1 wherein the inner layer of resilient protective padding is a non-woven fAbric. 